Gary has spent most of his early career working in a consultative capacity with forest products companies, resource based communities, various government agencies and environmental non-governmental organizations. Internationally, he has worked with organizations such as the Climate and Land Use Alliance, the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis in Vienna, the International Institute for Environment and Development in London, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome, the Sustainable Biomass Partnership, and the US Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. He has supervised research projects with CIFOR, World Bank, Shell Canada,Wildlife Conservation Society, WWF, Iisaak Forest Resources Ltd., Forest Trends and FAO.

Gary has a background in commerce as well as three degrees in Forestry, specializing in economics and policy. He has an interest in global forestry policy issues and has, or is, currently studying forest and timber markets in Asia and ecosystem services markets in Afghanistan, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Mozambique, Nicaragua and Uganda. In Canada he has focused his efforts on working on sustainable business development with First Nations communities. He is an advocate for interdisciplinary research.